Native to Brooklyn, New York, Merhige received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Motion Picture Directing from State University New York. A grade 'A' student, he dove into film quickly with the feature Begotten (1991). 

The fantasy film zeroed in on the heavens, with the death of God and birth of Mother Earth. Doing just about everything from directing and writing, to producing and editing, his hard work was rewarded when it was listed among the top ten films of the year by Time magazine. 

After Begotten, Merhige spent almost ten years away from film. He worked for the stage, directing a number of plays, including A Dream Play, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Waiting for Godot. 

He also found himself in great demand by the music industry who sought his directing style for music videos. Marilyn Manson contacted him to create his stage designs, as well as to direct an intermission film for the live concert and a music video for the title song from the album Anti-Christ Superstar. 

In 2000, Merhige returned to the big screen and completed his second feature, the dramatic horror, Shadow of the Vampire, starring John Malkovich. Nicolas Cage approached him with the script, confident with Merhige's first film. Shadow of the Vampire won Special Mention at the Catalonian International Film Festival and was nominated for a Bronze Horse at the Stolkholm Film Festival. 

Besides directing, Merhige has lectured on aesthetics at the Carnegie Mellon Museum and the American Film Institute in Washington, D.C. 

Credit: tribute.ca